The words "right," "righteous," "righteousness," and "just," "justice," and "justification" in scripture all come from the same greek word " dikaiosyne " (dee-ky-oh-soon-ay). From there, in the english translations of scripture, a theo-political battle has taken place which has overspiritualized the word to narrowly define dikaiosune as a personal experience or legal status given to us individually by God. And so they largely translate the word as "righteousness." Then for 500 years post-Reformation we have debated the salvation implications of individual righteousness as a gift from God. The Romance languages, namely Spanish, free from German influence, do not have this problem. They translate it as "justice". Take for example Jesus' beatitude: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Does this mean that we are blesse
Good stuff!
ReplyDeleteIt is so good to see Christians all over showing Love.